Food for Baby & A Miracle For Mama (ha!)

March 9, 2017

My little Reese turned 6 months old (kind of) last week, I say kind of, because her halfway mark was cut short since February stops at the 28th. 😆

My tradition with feeding our babies is to do it the day they turn 6 months old. They’ve always been ready by that point, and my sensitive mama heart is ready for a new milestone. Rather than bore along with the details of an infant eating, I will sum it up quickly: she kind of hated it (I think I made the carrot puree too thick,) then I tried organic oatmeal/rice cereal and she absolutely loved that, and now I am mixing in purees with her cereal and making it nice and thin in consistency, since she’s been on a liquid diet her entire life. 😉My close friends and family know that the past six months have been some of the most challenging I’ve had in quite some time- not even being dramatic, but completely honest, my sweet baby has been waking me up every hour to two hours every single day of her life…ever since the day she was born. In some countries, that’s considered torture, yes!? 😆 I kid, but really, running on such broken sleep while taking care of three kids all day every day is something I wasn’t prepared for, as Hadley and Sadie were incredible sleepers pretty much from the start. I was getting to the point of considering looking into a sleep consultant, or even trying an online program, but something changed…

The first night of Reese having solids…she only woke me up once during the night! Once. Typically I get at least 4-5 wakeups between 10pm-7am, and this was only one. She has been doing this every night since she began solids, and I am feeling like a different person. I am a little bummed that it took her having solids to sleep better, as I had no clue since her weight percentages have been growing (and I have checked to see that I have an ample supply,) and there was never a mention or suggestion to maybe start her on solids a little earlier. The only suggestion I had been given was to perhaps let her cry it out, but I just couldn’t do it. Her cries never sounded unnecessary, but more so hungry, so I just nursed her every time. It just goes to show that even with this being the third time around, I am still learning something new every time with every baby! It also goes to show that food is the best, but you didn’t have to tell me that! 🙂

I am SO happy that there’s light at the end of the insomnia tunnel, and even with one wake-up I am already feeling like a different person. It can be hard having a baby that doesn’t sleep, as to the outside world people might think (or even say aloud) something along the lines of “Well, you chose to have a baby.” I absolutely, positively chose to have another baby, but no one deserves or mentally prepares for no getting broken sleep for half a year (and some parents have it much, much worse!) Reese seems much happier too, all this unbroken sleep for her is probably so good for her development! I look forward to seeing her try new foods as we go along, and add some soft solids to play with (the rule is: if your thumb and pinky fingers can break it, so can their gums.)

Just for fun, I thought I would include some throwback pictures of Hadley and Sadie when they first started eating. It’s safe to say that Hadley had the best baby hair ever! 🙂

Also, it wasn’t even planned, but I have such similar pictures of the “newest” big sisters (at the time) feeding their baby sisters! Makes my heart so happy!

1 Comment

Hi Christie, curious…when your baby woke so much was she in bed with you or did you go nurse her and put her down every time? My baby wakes the same and I’m afraid I’ve just gotten him used to nursing to sleep. Did she nap well? Thanks for the help!